ORLANDO

CONTEST FOR YOUNG FILMMAKERS

Why does Orlando make you smile? If you're between the ages of 13 and 18 and can show the answer on film, you're invited to take part in a competition sponsored by the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Florida Film Festival and an organization called KIDS FIRST! The contest theme plays off the destination's marketing slogan, ``Orlando Makes Me Smile.''

A second contest category invites filmmakers 19 and over to submit short films on the same theme.

Submissions may not exceed three minutes and can either be live action or animation. Entries must be received by Jan. 11 and require a $25 entry fee. Complete contest rules and forms can be downloaded at www.kidsfirst.org/Orlando.html.

Winners will be announced in February.

THEME PARKS

SEAWORLD RAISES PRICE TO NEAR $80

SeaWorld Orlando is joining other Orlando theme parks and raising its base ticket price to almost $80 -- but not for Florida residents who buy the ``Fun Card.''

The base price of a one-day ticket to SeaWorld will rise $4 to $78.95.

The move brings SeaWorld's base price to just 5 cents less than single-day, single-park tickets to Disney or Universal, both of which raised their own prices over the summer.

The resort also will reduce the price of its popular ``Fun Cards.''

The cards allow Florida residents to make repeated visits to the park with the purchase of a single-day ticket.

The price of in-state Fun Cards will be lowered by $5 to $69.95 if customers purchase them online or at participating AAA offices.

The gate price of a Fun Card will remain at $74.95.

HOLIDAY TRAVEL

AIRLINE SURCHARGES ARE GOING UP

If you plan to travel around the holidays, prepare to pay a little more -- again.

Several of the largest U.S. airlines have increased a surcharge for travel on the busiest travel days to $20 each way, up from $10.

The surcharges apply to a large number of flights within the United States on more than a dozen peak days around holidays including Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's.

Delta, American, United, US Airways and Northwest all boosted their surcharge on some routes, said Tom Parsons, who runs the discount travel site Bestfares.com.

AIRLINES

CONTINENTAL JOINS STAR ALLIANCE

• Continental Airlines has officially switched its alliance from SkyTeam, which is led by Delta and Air France-KLM, to the Star Alliance, which includes United, US Airways and Lufthansa. Continental customers will get more flights to choose from, and its frequent fliers will get a new roster of international airlines on which to earn and spend miles.

• Southwest will serve the new Panama City airport opening in the Florida Panhandle in May. Southwest has not yet announced the destinations it will serve out of Panama City, but the discount carrier has a large operation in Fort Lauderdale.

PASSPORTS

AGENCY OPENS

NEW OFFICES

The Miami Passport Agency, which serves Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, has opened a new office at Omni Center, 1501 Biscayne Blvd., Suite 210. The new office has more than twice as many windows at its public counter than the previous facility. Information on the cost and how to apply for a passport book or passport card is available at travel.state.gov. or by calling the National Passport Information Center toll-free at 877-487-2778.

DETOURS

MAJOR ROCKSLIDE CLOSES I-40

Transportation officials say they don't expect to reopen Interstate 40 near the North Carolina-Tennessee border -- closed by a huge rockslide last month -- until late January or early February. The slide happened Oct. 25, leaving a pile of rock 150 feet high and nearly 300 feet wide on the roadway, which is the main traffic conduit from North Carolina to eastern and central Tennessee. Motorists are being detoured off I-40 onto I-240 West in Asheville, I-26 West, and then I-81 South in Tennessee, back to I-40.

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